Lgbtia+ Churches and Groups in Brazil and Christian Mystical Experiences

This article is a result of a doctorship thesis about the mystical experiences of LGBTIA+ christian people and their impacts on the creation of LGBTIA+ churches and groups in Brazil. The interlacement between two areas of knowledge was explored: sociology of religion and queer and gender studies, with an emphasis on the subareas: mystical experiences and queer and LGBTIA+ theologies. The general objective of the research was to identify LGBTIA+ churches in Brazil, describe and understand the mystical experiences related to the theologies advocated by these groups, as well as knowing the life stories of some of these leaders and tactics of diffusion of these experiences. Considering that traditional christian theologies reject sexual and gender diversity as a serious sin, it attempted to understand the doctrinal changes and transformations that occurred so that these LGBTIA+ groups could be welcomed within religious communities or create their own. It was a qualitative research with a comprehensive disposition, adopting a multidisciplinary view of the researched phenomena and using the life story methodology. To achieve this goal, a bibliographical review was carried out on the topic in academic, journalistic and ecclesiastical documents. The fieldwork included multiple data collection mechanisms, which included group observations and semi-structured interviews, via video calls during the COVID-19 pandemic, with eight LGBTIA+ people in leadership positions in their respective churches or religious groups. It sought to understand the life trajectories of these people and how mystical experiences changed themselves and the world around them. It is concluded that mystical experiences marked their life stories, with important impacts on the construction of churches and LGBTIA+ groups in Brazil. At the same time, several doctrinal divergences were observed between these churches, due to different views regarding sexuality and sexual morality to be adopted by people in their relationships and daily behaviour.